THE
HISTORY OF THE GLASGOW HOMOEOPATHIC HOSPITALPresented by Peter Morrell & Sylvain
Cazalet

HOMEOPATHY IN GLASGOW –
A PREFACEby Peter Morrell

Right from its commencement, homeopathy has two
fundamental links with Scotland. Firstly, it was Hahnemann’s translation
in 1790 of William Cullen’s Materia Medica and his disagreement with
Cullen’s view that led Hahnemann to ingest Cinchona bark himself
and thus undertake the first experimental drug proving. Cullen was
Professor of Physic at Edinburgh at the time and was often called the ‘Scottish
Hippocrates’ [Gumpert, 1945, 65].

Secondly, Hahnemann referred to the work of the
Scottish surgeon, John Hunter, who wrote on venereal diseases, and who
hinted at the idea of the biphasic or toxo-therapeutic action of drugs
[see Coulter, vol. 2, p.356]:

Dr John Hunter

"' ..close inspection of the
action of medicinal substances on the healthy led to a major discovery -
the biphasic action of drugs

.' [Coulter, vol.
2, p.363; see also Nicholls, p.78]

‘... the work of the Scottish surgeon,
John Hunter [1728-93], becomes an important influence upon Hahnemann.
Coulter suggests [p.356-7] that Hahnemann gained some insights into the
tenet: 'what will cause can cure' from reading Hunter's work on the
Mercurial treatment of Syphilis:

'This new approach [i.e. the proving]
was inspired by the writings of the profoundly original and pathbreaking
Scottish physician, John Hunter [1728-1793].'
[Coulter, vol. 2, p.356]

'The parallels between the two works are
striking. To Hunter is thus due a share of the credit for Hahnemann's
discovery of the drug proving.' [Coulter, vol.
2, p.356]

Scotland is famous throughout the world as a premier
teaching centre for medicine, and a distinguished tradition stretching
back many centuries. The Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, based in
Edinburgh and Glasgow, have been and remain the most prestigious medical
teaching centres in the UK, and are leading centres of medical excellence
of world ranking. The other Scottish universities of St. Andrews, Dundee
and Aberdeen, also have important medical faculties, with long and
illustrious historic links.

Dr William Ernest Boyd

Homeopathy in Scotland also has a long and very
distinguished record. It has been practised there from its very origins in
the UK in the 1820s, and has enjoyed repeated flowerings, apparently quite
independent of the tradition in England. It has tended to be centred
mainly in Glasgow. Many of the greatest homeopaths in Britain were born
and educated in Scotland, even though they may have 'made their mark'
south of the border. Examples include Drs Dudgeon, Weir, Henderson,
Skinner, George MacLeod, John Paterson, Gibson Miller and William Boyd,
all of whom rank as great homeopaths in world terms.

We find homeopaths in Edinburgh in the last century.
Such figures as Sir William Henderson [1811-72], became very important
during homeopathy’s early struggles with established medicine. Yet, his
contemporary, Sir James Young Simpson, was scathing of homeopathy even
though he was Dr Thomas Skinner’s tutor in Obstetrics and regarded
Skinner as his star pupil and greatest protégé. Simpson was the founder
of the use of Chloroform as an anaesthetic in childbirth and Skinner
invented the ‘Skinner mask’ to enable it to be administered. Later, of
course, he figured inventively in the design and construction of
'continuous fluxion potentising machines', which were to transform
homeopathy in the USA.

Much of what follows is little more than a ‘Who’s
Who’ of Scottish homeopaths, arranged chronologically. It is drawn from
a homeopathic biographical database I first began to compile in 1988, and
culled from a wide range of sources. Though I have visited Scotland on
several occasions, and climbed and sketched some of its magnificent peaks,
yet I cannot claim to have a single drop of Scottish blood in my veins,
and find it difficult to state what being Scottish means. To those of
greater knowledge on this topic, I beg some sympathy and forgiveness, lest
I make too many gaffes.

Scottishness

In considering the question of why so many Scots have
become doctors it occurred to me that quite apart from their superior
medical schools, the very people of Scotland must be in possession of some
features that predispose them towards becoming good doctors. This is my
starting point. The question then translates into what are these
qualities, and what comprises Scottishness? Having thought this over great
deal, what follows is merely a list of the qualities that I feel Scots
tend to possess in greater measure than most people and which very likely
predispose them to human warmth and thus to good patient care. To many
people, perhaps to many Scots, these comparisons may seem banal, trite or
over-generalised, but I still think they have at least a grain of truth in
them.

Firstly, I find the Scots very plain and ordinary
people, down-to-earth, largely unpretentious and sensible. Yet there is an
extraordinary quality to this ordinariness; it goes beyond just being
ordinary—I would say they enjoy being ordinary, delight in it and excel
at it. Secondly, they seem to be straightforward and uncomplicated people
who can cut out the crap in a situation and easily get down to the basic
issues; they simplify things. Thirdly, they are very sociable people, very
gregarious—they have a very sociable nature that loves human company. In
this feature, I suspect they come very close to the Irish.

They have an easy-going manner, which reassures other
people they are with. They are infectiously friendly and empathic—they
make good listeners and show a genuine caring interest in the lives, the
ordinary problems and concerns of other people. This reveals their warmth,
humanity and generosity of spirit that goes some way beyond mere
friendliness; they are humane. In this respect, they identify easily with
the ordinary human concerns of people anywhere—they connect with
other human beings at the basic level of being human. Finally, they are
practical and pragmatic people, not given to excessive flights of fancy.
Being so often courteous and mild mannered, putting others at ease and
having a soft accent and a trusting manner, enables them to soothe
difficult customers. I do not regard the Scottish reputation for thrift,
frugal ways and prudence as especially relevant to medicine and will
simply leave them as noted in passing.

When seen in the round, so many of the above human
qualities do actually overlap a good deal with the good qualities—the
pleasing bedside manners—required for being a good doctor. One must be
all of the above in order to win the trust and respect of patients and to
soothe their fears. Thus, I would say that the qualities of Scottishness
clearly make for good doctors and that this might well be seen as the
reason so many Scots excel in the medical field.

Looking beyond medicine per se, and specifically at
homeopathy, we know that to become a good homeopath one must above all
have excellent empathic skills—one must connect easily and surely
with the patient, and place them at their ease, so as to bring out their
full case.

Homeopathic Consultation

A good homeopath must possess in good measure two
special qualities above all others—a thorough knowledge of materia
medica and a deep empathy for the patient—in other words, knowledge of
drugs and knowledge of how to match them to people. The latter necessarily
involves the rare skill of bringing out all the main elements of the
patient’s case. Dr Borland possessed "an amazing knowledge of
the drugs in the homeopathic pharmacopoeia and their minutiae of
difference…combined with abundant sympathy and understanding of the
patient," [Stuart McAusland, Dr Douglas Borland Obituary, Brit.
Homeo. Jnl 50, 1961, 133-135; 133]. Homeopaths must strive to attain
the "ability of seeing…almost intuitively a drug picture,
stamped [as it were] across the face of any patient…a lightning facility
to match the drug for a particular sick patient," [ibid; 135]. In
assessing figures like Borland, one always has to appreciate the sheer
"weight of clinical experience behind his lectures,"
[ibid; 134]. The homeopath gazes through a maze of symptoms, parts, and
disease labels, forever looking deeper, being "always interested
in the whole man, body, mind and spirit," [ibid; 133]. Afterall "the
patient is the only one who can really tell what is the matter,"
[A Taylor-Smith, letter re Dr Borland’s Obituary, Brit. Homeo.
Jnl 50.2, July 1961; 288]

The need for empathy in homeopathy reflects the need to
get at the right remedy, which is so frequently revealed through odd
symptoms that only detailed discussion can bring to light; detailed
discussion that depends so much upon good empathic skills. Like patients,
all drugs have their characteristic features and quirks that mark them out
from all others: "the thirstlessness of Ant tart is a great and
important symptom in diagnosing the remedy in, say, a broncho-pneumonia,"
[A Taylor-Smith, letter re Dr Borland’s Obituary, Brit. Homeo.
Jnl 50.2, July 1961, 288; 137]; it is "useless to prescribe
Aconite for a patient of calm and equable disposition, for subjects
poisoned with Aconite are excited, frightened and restless,"
[Frank Bodman, Lecture to Osler Society, Oxford, Brit. Homeo.
Jnl 44.2, 1955, 2-8; 5]. Patients who need "Nux vomica…[are]
highly irritable and bad-tempered," people [ibid; 5]. Dr John
Paterson always "described Lachesis as the Garden of Eden – the
serpent, sex, religion and jealousy," [Geoffrey Brown, Drs
John and Elizabeth Paterson, Brit. Homeo. Jnl 56, 1967,
201-218; 202]. The Arsenic patient is always noted for being "meticulously
neat in his dress and in his thinking…to straighten pictures…slightly
askew…and being always prepared in an emergency." [Frank
Bodman, Sir John Weir Obituary, Brit. Homeo. Jnl 60.1, 1971,
224-228; 227]

Not very much experience is required to confer upon
homeopaths a "profound conviction in the power of the homeopathic
remedy…a steadfast refusal to dabble in new allopathic drugs…his
knowledge of homeopathic materia medica was so wide and his skill in
applying it so great that he did not need much else," [Dr
Henderson Patrick Obituary, Brit. Homeo. Jnl 48, 1959, 326]. Dr
Weir always infected others with "his tremendous belief in
homeopathy," [Frank Bodman, Sir John Weir Obituary, Brit.
Homeo. Jnl 60.1, 1971, 224-228; 228]. Such an attitude should not be
condemned too hastily as blind faith, but as flowing naturally from many
years of experience of relying solely upon a single refined approach that
yields good if not spectacular results and rarely disappoints a busy
clinician.

So many homeopaths were deeply beloved by their
patients and widely admired and respected as men of deep compassion, warm
human feelings and great skill. Dr Epps passed away "as gently as
he had lived." [Dr Washington Epps Obituary, Brit.
Homeo. Jnl 2, 1912, 525-7; 525] Dr Robert "Gibson Miller was
the founder of all Glasgow homeopathy, well disposed towards the laity,
lost a son in the Great War (1916) and he died of cancer c.1919. He never
recovered from the loss of his son. He was tall and scraggy, a typical
Carcinosin type as John Paterson used to say." [Pert, 1991]

Dr George Lithgow Wilson’s life ‘was lit by an
enthusiasm for homeopathy and many a time he spoke up for his
beliefs....forthright and of strong opinions as he was, we had many a
fierce argument, but never a quarrel...’ [Ross, Obituary, BHJ 51,
1962, p.141] Dr. Tom Robertson, ‘Seldom did an evening pass without
Tom looking in at the hospital to see that all was well...his brilliant,
witty, and sometimes Rabelaisian conversation will be sadly missed by many
friends...he was the complete individualist with a hearty contempt for
regimentation and the trammels of modern civilization.’ [Obituary,
BHJ 51, 1962, p.141]

Dr John Raeside [1927-72] was "very much a
Scot, with the humanity and humour…which characterise them." [Obit;
250] With patients he was always "patient, sympathetic, willing to
listen, willing to enter into their problems fully and constructively…he
felt that the true impulse of a doctor is the impulse to bring healing
activity to the sufferer." [Dr Raeside Obituary, Brit.
Homeo. Jnl 61, 1972, 249-250]

The good homeopathic consultation definitely involves, "the
ability to get into the spirit of the patient when it comes to
ascertaining his 'state of mind'..." [Verspoor & Decker, 341]
The endeavour involves "silently sinking into the meaning [of the
patient's] postures, gestures and quality of acting in order to gain an
impression as to the essential revelation contained therein."
[ibid, 342] This necessarily involves generating great empathy or
naturally possessing great empathy and warmth of human feeling.

As Dr Pierre Schmidt used to say, "try to make
your patient laugh once and cry once during the initial
consultation..." [Luc de Schepper, Hahnemann Revisited, Full of
Life Publications, SF, 1999, 120] "The homeopath must be
sympathetic, calm, and receptive... without...preconceptions or prejudice.
Silence is golden, especially in the beginning of the inquiry...every
homeopath can listen empathetically and establish a good rapport with the
patient." [Luc de Schepper, Hahnemann Revisited, 1999, 113] This
is why "I always try to be humble to encourage the patient to
speak more freely.’ [De Schepper, 120]

Kent says, "you will become expert in
questioning patients so as to bring out the truth. Store up materia medica
so as to use it and it will flow out as your language flows. You must put
yourself on a level with the form of speech your patients use. Be sure you
have not put any words into your patient’s mouth or biased his
expression." [James T Kent, Lectures on Homeopathic Philosophy,
1900, N Atlantic Books, 160] A good homeopathic consultation "is
favored in a general way by a calm, dignified, but at the same time quiet
and sympathetic manner...confident, but not pompous; simple and direct,
but not aggressive; cheerful but not flippant; serious but not grave or
funereal. We should try to put the patient at his ease by adapting
ourselves to his personality and mood.’ [Close, 1924, The Genius of
Homeopathy, 171]

Quite rightly, "patients generally call attention to the
commonest things, while it is the strange and peculiar things that guide
to the remedy. The symptoms most covered up from the observation of the
physician are often the things guiding to the remedy...these symptoms that
are withheld and seem to be so obscure, and so difficult to obtain, are
the very ones that the patient thinks do not amount to anything.’
[Kent, 169]

In other words, the homeopath must strive to become "receptive
like a photographic plate ready to receive the image of the patient
without preoccupations, preconceptions or prejudices...sympathetic
listening [is required]...but every homeopath can listen empathetically
and establish a good rapport with the patient." [De Schepper,
113] "It follows, therefore...that we should at once endeavour to
put ourselves upon such a footing and in such personal relation to the
patient as will best favour a full, frank revelation...of all the
circumstances and conditions that have led up to his illness; and an
equally full, simple and frank statement of his sufferings as they are
seen by him." [Close, 170-1] The patient must be placed "at
his ease by adapting ourselves to his personality and mood,"
[Close, 171] and be allowed "to tell his story freely and relieve
his mind...in an easy, semi-conversational manner...making him forget he
is [even] under consultation." [Close, 171]

The consultation "is a completely unique
process demanding of the interviewer different kinds of sensitivity and
different approaches to each patient," [Vithoulkas, 1980, The
Science of Homeopathy, 169] Practitioners need specifically to "develop
the necessary sensitivity to each patient," [Vithoulkas, 1980,
170] and he or she must "suspend personal prejudices and in
imagination...crawl into the context of each patient in order to live that
experience," [Vithoulkas, 1980, 173] of being who they are
thinking what they think and seeing things the way they see them. This is
the great secret of consultation and the most empathic people naturally
have this gift and swiftly and smoothly connect with their patients and
place them at their ease.

Only this approach will "convey to the patient
that he is truly interested and that he can actually understand even the
most intimate of the patient's experiences and thoughts."
[Vithoulkas, 1980, 174] For, "if a patient feels cared for,
understood, and not judged, he will finally yield up his inner state or
essence." [Vithoulkas, 1980, 174] And he/she will surrender to
this opening-up process only in such intimate conditions of trust and
respect, for patients "are likely to harbour the most important
secrets, so great tact and sensitivity must be used by the interviewer to
them forward." [Vithoulkas, 1980, 178] Some of these "feelings,
thoughts or experiences...can cause them great shame and
embarrassment...such hidden images, feelings or fears are of utmost
importance to the homeopath, because...the deepest 'essence' of the
pathology is being revealed...then...a remedy can be selected that will
touch the deepest recesses...and bring about a cure."
[Vithoulkas, 1980, 178]

The homeopath must also "become skilled in
picking up signals...and emotional tension...during the course of an
interview...discomfort about a particular topic...which should be further
explored gently and sensitively, but resolutely." [Vithoulkas,
1980, 179] Such gentle but relentless probing of the patient "will
cause the patient to break down and weep, or to become agitated or
angry...such expressions of emotional charge...is beneficial to the
patient and of great value to the homeopath," [Vithoulkas, 1980,
179] for such expressions are "deep and essential to the case."
[Vithoulkas, 1980, 179] This whole situation is certainly very "reminiscent
of the cathartic method of a psychoanalytic interview...but the
purpose...is understanding deeply the true pathology...and finding the
most appropriate remedy that may lead to cure," [Vithoulkas,
1980, 179] and not simply counselling for counselling sake.

In a more recent essay, Vithoulkas says, "if
you want to see the true picture of a person's soul that person has to
undress in front of you," [Vithoulkas, 2000, Conditions under
which the correct homeopathic remedy is found] and that, "the
individual has to stay naked in front of the practicioner in order that he
will see the whole picture." [ibid] However, "in order to
allow you to see him totally naked in body mind and soul there are some
requirements," [ibid] such as "a mutual sympathy or
homogeneity which can be created instantly or as the taking of the case
progresses. which allows communication on another level not simply the
verbal." [ibid] and of course "you need first all a quiet
environment, an enviroment that will be pleasing and will give the patient
a feeling of safety." [ibid]

Resume

It is thus my contention that this fine empathic
quality is found especially among the Scots—they naturally possess this
quality in abundance and their caring, humane approach enables them to
connect easily with others and draw out the deeper recesses of a person’s
feelings and sensitivities, such as are necessary in medical consultation.
One would thus tell a Scot a thing that would be withheld in the company
of a less empathic person. This, as we have here seen, is the essential
raw material of the good homeopathic consultation, without which
homeopathy could not operate very well. Thus, in short, Scots make good
doctors and good homeopaths because they can connect warmly and intimately
with other human beings and see into their souls.

Acknowledgement:

I acknowledge my sizeable debt to the
late Geoffrey Brown of Bradford, who helped me enormously in the early
days of my historical research. He was a Tax Consultant and third in line
of family Accountants to the Bradford Wool Trade. He was a personal friend
of Drs John and Elizabeth Paterson, to whom he was introduced through his
father's interest in homeopathy, and who allowed the Paterson's to use
part of their house as consulting rooms twice a week. During the fifties
and sixties, Geoffrey was a frequent visitor to the Faculty, Nelson's and
the BHA in London, and was on friendly terms with many prominent UK
homeopaths, including Drs Blackie, Foubister and Twentyman. A great
raconteur and bon viveur, and a connoisseur of fine French wine, I vividly
recall conversations with him about the Paterson's and the history of
British homeopathy generally 1920-70. As he confessed to me one day:
'Well, yes, I suppose I do suffer fools, but very badly!' A man of great
personal charm, energy and wit, he was a great friend of homeopathy and is
very sorely missed.

***************

Sir William Henderson, 1811-72, Edinburgh,
Professor of General Pathology, 1832-69 Edinburgh, MD Edin. 1831, FRCP
Edin. 1838, gained prominence by developing a rational and scientific
status for homeopathy by his brilliant attention to research and detail; a
strong supporter of Dr Richard Hughes. Henderson is especially important,
as he was the first high-ranking allopath to seriously digest homeopathy
for medicine as a whole and, to debate [in the 1840s] the therapeutic
implications to allopathy of the use of small doses. In this, his chief
sparring partners were Queen Victoria’s physician, Sir John Forbes, and
Professor Sir James Young Simpson.

Publ:
An Inquiry Into The Homeopathic Practice Of
Medicine, 1845
A Reply To Dr Simpson's Homeopathy
Misrepresented (1845)
A Letter To Dr John Forbes, 1846
Homeopathy Fairly Represented (1853)

Sir James Young Simpson, 1811-70, Edinburgh,
Professor of Obstetrics, 1st to use chloroform in surgery and
labour as an anaesthetic; friend and teacher of Skinner and Drysdale; not
a homeopath, but ahead of his time as devotee of single remedy
prescribing, against polypharmacy; great influence over Skinner (his
protégé) and paved the way for his later contributions; an allopath who
taught Skinner in Edinburgh; the foremost gynaecologist of his day, he
ridiculed homeopathy (MOH p.3)

Publ:
Homeopathy, Its Tenets And Tendencies (1853-
see MOH, p.403)
A Practical View of Homeopathy

Publ:
A Few Words on Homoeopathy and Homeopathic
Hospitals, Chiefly in Reply to Professor Henderson, A and C Black,
Edinburgh, 14pp, 1857

Dr Alfred E Drysdale, c.1820-90, proved Pyrogen
(1875), (Blackie, 1975, p.688), son of the Lord Provost of Edinburgh; MB,
Cannes; Drysdale is chiefly famous for translating ‘A History of
Homeopathy’ by Ameke (1885).

Dr R. E. Dudgeon

Dr Robert Ellis Dudgeon
was born on March 17, 1820, and died Sept. 8, 1904 (also listed as
September 9th). He resided at 53 Montague Square, London W1. He qualified
as LRCS Edinburgh in 1839, MD Edinburgh in 1841, and became Fellow of the
British Homeopathic Society, and consultant surgeon (mainly ophthalmic) to
the London Homeopathic Hospital. He also invented an early form of
Sphygmograph (see Concise Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford; and in
Infopedia 95 CD Rom). He was the first editor of BJH from 1845-1884.

Accordingly, he became a homeopath c.1843 under the
influence of a semester spent in the Medical School in Vienna [Dr Burnett
also qualified in Vienna before going to Glasgow] and then under Dr John
Drysdale in Liverpool. He set up practice in London in 1845. Drysdale and
Dr John Rutherford Russell were fellow students of Dudgeon in Vienna
(Dictionary of National Biography, p.531). The three also edited the BJH
from 1846-84. "In 1850 he helped to found the Hahnemann Hospital
and the The London School of Homoeopathy in Bloomsbury Square, with which
was connected the Hahnemann Medical Society" [Clarke, Life of
Burnett]

He became Secretary of the BHS in 1848 & President
in 1878 and 1890. He was a low-potency prescriber like Hughes, with whom
he was always associated. He is chiefly important as a translator of
Hahnemann’s works into English.

Dudgeon's Publications:

Pathogenetic Cyclopaedia 1839

Cure of Pannus by Inoculation, London and Edinburgh Journal of
Medical Science 1844

He went to Liverpool in 1859 and here he enjoyed a busy
consulting practice [allopathic] for a number of years. He became
converted to homeopathy in 1875 in Liverpool, through treatment for his
own health problems, by Dr. Edward Berridge [1844-1920]. Having been cured
with a single dose of high potency Sulphur [MM powder], the dramatic
effect this dose had upon him was so profound and so unexpected on his
part, that it is hardly surprising that Skinner became such a
thoroughgoing high-potency advocate [Blackie, The Patient Not the Cure,
1976, London, p.158].

He visited the US in 1876 and developed a centesimal
fluxion machine for making high potencies and named after him the Skinner
Machine. Skinner thus became a very influential figure, linking US and
British homeopathy, and is often linked by name to other high-potency
prescribers of that period ['high potency fanatics' as Dudgeon sometimes
referred to them: see his Lectures, 1853, p.143 and p.407], who
were at the forefront of the development of the higher centesimal
potencies and of investigating their clinical use, mainly in the 1860-80
period.

"It was through correspondence about some matter
apart from medicine that Dr Skinner in 1873 became acquainted with Dr
Berridge; but the acquaintance led to a desire on Skinner's part to know
something about homoeopathy, as he had heard of some good cures when
over in America. The upshot of it all was that Dr Berridge prescribed
Sulphur for our patient in the MM potency, prepared by Boericke of
Philadelphia. When Skinner felt the homoeopathic remedy at work inside
him it was a revelation indeed. 'I shall never forget the marvellous
change which the first dose effected in a few weeks, especially the
rolling away, as it were, of a dense and heavy cloud from my mind.' He
was cured of the constipation, the acid dyspepsia (which he had had all
his life), sleeplessness, deficient assimilation and general debility,
and restored to a life of usefulness and vigour..."

Dr. Clarke knew him well, and wrote 'A Biographical
Sketch of Dr. Skinner'...

Dr
J.C. Burnett

"Thomas Skinner was one of the most brilliant
British homeopathic physicians. Dr Clarke knew him well, and wrote A
Biographical Sketch of Dr Skinner. He began his medical studies in 1849
and later became assistant to Simpson. Went to Liverpool in 1859 and
here he enjoyed a busy consulting practice for a number of years. also
studied in USA, worked closely with Clarke & Burnett…"
[Obituary, BJH]

Major Work:
Homeopathy and The Diseases of Females
[Gynecology] (1878)

Eight years later (1857)
the Liverpool Homeopathic Society was founded, and it was largely
because of Dr John Drysdale's perseverance that there grew up around him
a group of ambitious young homeopaths [including Burnett's future
biographer, Dr John Clarke and his Glasgow friend Alfred Hawkes], among
homeopathy, Dr Burnett evidently found himself in congenial company…"
[Clarke’s Life of Burnett]

Went to Liverpool Hahnemann Hospital, introduced to
homeopathy by Dr Arthur Clipston of Northampton.

Gibson Miller went from Scotland to study with Kent in
St. Louis in 1884 - Brought the beginnings of Kentian Homeopathy back to
UK.

"Gibson Miller was the founder of all Glasgow
homeopathy, well disposed towards the laity, lost a son in the Great War
(1916) and he died of cancer c.1919. He never recovered from the loss of
his son. He was tall and scraggy, a typical Carcinosin type as John
Paterson used to say. He was associated with Berridge, Thomas Skinner
and Simpson of anaesthetic fame. Miller, like Skinner, used high
potencies, while Cooper used low and Clarke used mixed." [Pert,
1991]

The Kentian influence first came to Britain with Dr.
Robert Gibson Miller [1862-1919] in Glasgow, who studied with Kent in 1884
in St Louis. He in turn began to influence UK practice chiefly in
Scotland, from where the 'high potency habit' formed a separate and
parallel strand to that centred mainly in Liverpool with Drysdale and
Berridge [see Winston, 1999, pp.200-201]. Gibson Miller published his
ideas in 3 small works: Elements of Homeopathy, Relationships of Remedies
and A Synopsis of Homeopathic Philosophy.

Very little is known, as yet, about how and why
Gibson Miller went to see Kent in the first place, or how his visit was
financed. There might also have been a link, a suggestion maybe from
Berridge and Drysdale in Liverpool?, and Skinner, of course, who had
strong links there since 1875. It may have occurred because UK
homeopathy was declining, and that they were 'fishing around' for new
ideas and direction. They clearly felt that in terms of new homeopathic
initiatives, the USA was the place to look. Yet the 'old guard' who
controlled UK homeopathy at that time were deeply sceptical of high
potencies and very resistant to change [see Blackie, 1996, p.561-2]. The
'old guard' mainly comprised Drs. Hughes, Dudgeon and Dyce-Brown, who
dismissed the high potencies as laughable.

This aspect also raises another question about the
links between 19th century Scottish and English homeopathy which I have
not really explored. How much did Gibson Miller disseminate his
newly-acquired skills to other UK doctors? Another question is how much he
also disseminated his new ideas to the medically unqualified? Much of the
basis for even teaching lay persons the rudiments of homeopathic
prescribing was a response to its continued decline. It would be useful to
know, therefore, if Gibson Miller did the same in Scotland and for similar
reasons. Gibson Miller travelled from Scotland to St. Louis and 'brought
the beginnings of Kentian Homeopathy back to Britain.' [Gibson
Miller's Obituary, BHJ 9, 1919, p.107]

Miller was also an important influence on the future
Physician Royal, Sir John Weir, who he treated for boils and converted to
homeopathy [see Bodman's Weir Obituary in BHJ, 1971]. ‘It was Dr
Gibson Miller who advised Sir John Weir to go to the USA.’ [Stewart,
1967, p.260]

Sir John Weir, 1879-1971, 47b Welbeck Street,
London [Nisbet, 1913, p.766]; Homeopath to Royals and Queen of Norway,
graduate of Glasgow 1907, went to USA 1908 to study with Kent at the
Hering Homeopathic Medical College, Chicago. Returned to LHH 1910 and
became Compton-Burnett Professor of Materia Medica in 1911; single remedy
high potency advocate, President of the Faculty 1923, yet always a man of
enormous humility.

MB ChB Glas 1907, FFHom 1943 (Med Dir 1948); KCVO.

Influenced by Gibson Miller who treated him for boils.
In 1908 used Tyler Scholarship to study in Chicago with Dr Kent for one
year. Physician to King George V (1918-23), Edward VIII (1923-35) and King
George VI (1936-52), King Olav of Norway, whole Royal household and Queen
Elizabeth II (1952-68).

Spoke on homeopathy before the Royal Society of
Medicine in 1932. Knighted that same year.

Dr. Tom Paterson, 1885-1969, 2 Clifton Place
Glasgow, MB ChB Glas, 1910; Disp Phys Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital and
Scottish Homeopathic Hospital for Children [Med Dir, 1957, p.1707]. When
he first practised he used to visit patients on his bicycle and one night
even walked 5 miles to visit a seriously ill child with pneumonia.

‘He wanted to become a doctor
because as a small boy he had always been interested in natural history
and living things. Whenever he visited the Glasgow Art Galleries, he
missed the pictures and went to see skeletons, animals and birds...his
work in a quantity surveyor’s office...had made him a wizard with
figures...and may account for his copperplate writing and the neatness
of his casesheets which have always been looked upon as showpieces by
the Dispensary Staff...’

‘...although no relation, Dr Tom
Paterson was responsible for introducing Dr John Paterson to
homeopathy...one night when out visiting they went together to see an
accident for which Dr Tom suggested Arnica. Dr John had apparently never
heard of it being used...Dr Tom presented him with a copy of Allen’s
Keynotes...’

‘...it was well known that he hated
draughts, so his Christmas tree present was always bed socks, window
wedges or something concerned with keeping him warm...

‘I always remember meeting him in
the homeopathic chemist’s shop on a bitter cold winter’s day when he
asked me what kind of day it was. I replied ‘Terrible!’. He said,
‘Bottom of the class. Bottom of the class. This is an Aconite day!’’
[Stewart, 1967, pp.258-60]

Glasgow trained and based, President of the Int’l
Homeopathic League and President of the Faculty, bacteriologist and
researcher at Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital and homeopathy teacher;
followed Dishington as Physician at Glasgow Children's Hospital, Mt
Vernon. Led Bowel Nosodes Research with Bach, Wheeler, et al, together
with wife; produced bowel nosode research; discovered the bowel nosodes
Dys Co, Morgan, Gaertner and Sycotic Co.

Dr William Ernest Boyd, 1891-1955, Glasgow, MD Glas
1919, MA MB ChB 1915, FFHom 1947, FRSM, MBIR; lived, practised and
educated in Glasgow. Radiologist and asst physician Glasgow Homeopathic
Hospital; Radiologist at Scottish Homeopathic Hospital for Children.
Eminent researcher into high potencies in BHJ (1941-2); surgeon in Royal
Navy during WW1. Joined Homeopathic Faculty in 1919, with interest through
Gibson Miller. An eminent practitioner who combined the sensitivity of a
physician with the practical approach of an engineer, greatly influenced
by Gibson Miller; also spent time at RLHH in London. Inventor of the
"Boyd Emanometer", a device for finding the remedy.

The Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital began as a
Dispensary in 1880. It was founded by a small group of homeopathic
physicians. This Dispensary was the main centre of homeopathy for the
whole of Scotland for the first 30 years. In 1909 a new Dispensary was
opened, and from it came the first Homeopathic Hospital, at 5
Lynedoch Crescent, and called the Houldsworth Hospital after the
family that had originally founded the 1909 Dispensary. The hospital was
opened in 1914 under the guidance of its first honorary physician, Dr
Gibson Miller. The Outpatients Dept was opened in 1928.

There followed a rapid growth in homeopathic treatment
in the city during the 1920's and 30's. This produced a need for a larger
premises. This was achieved with the in-patients move to 1000 Great
Western Road in 1929, where it still operated from until 1999 when it
moved to its present premises. Following this move IN 1929 the Lynedoch
Crescent building was converted into an out-patient clinic and dispensary
part of the hospital. it was closed in 1987 when the out-patient
facilities were moved into the main hospital at 1000 Great Western Road.

The new Children's Hospital at Oakpark, Mount Vernon
was opened in 1921 by Drs T.T.M. Dishington, Patrick, Fairlea and Adam
Lees. In 1944 the Children's and Houldsworth Hospitals were merged under
one Board of Management. It was closed in the late 1970s.

Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital, published: What
Homeopathy Is Doing In The NHS In Scotland (1953) and Children’s
Homeopathic Hospital Jubilee 1921-1971 in 1971. These two documents
are presented here on this website.

Lay Homeopathy in
Scotland

There was a big revival of homeopathy throughout
Scotland [and the rest of the UK] in the 1930s. This revival was
spearheaded mainly by lay practitioners, and they formed the Glasgow Lay
Homeopathic Society in 1932. Letters about their activities appeared in
Heal Thyself throughout the 1930s.

Mr H A Kerr, c.1900 - 1980?, Kings Park, Cathcart,
Glasgow, founder member of the Glasgow Lay Homeopathic Association, the
first such lay homeopathic society in Britain, to be called the Scottish
Homeopathic Association, 1932 Heal Thyself

Bailie Ninian Macwhannell, c.1880- c.1960,

Glasgow, Senior Magistrate in Glasgow, Chairman and
Founder of the Glasgow Lay Homeopathic Society 1932 and "...with
an interest in homeopathy extending over 30 years." [Letter in Heal
Thyself, 1932]

Hunter Beattie, c.1880-c.1960, Scotland:

‘A lay homeopath and herbalist, populariser of
soaps and perfumes, herbal toiletries salesman, HBT was the popular
trade-name for Hunter Beattie Toiletries into the 40s. He was a
homeopath of sorts and supported lay homeopathy in general.’ [Pert,
1991]

Few people knew about
olfaction - inhaling deeply the remedy bottle rather than placing it on
the tongue. Doctors criticised it as a nonsense. Dr William Boyd
hammered that type of criticism saying it was invalid unless you had
experience of the technique. Like all lay homeopaths in Glasgow at that
time Short was in a group called Glasgow Homeopathy Supplies which was a
shop used as a base for consultations, usually 5/- [5 shillings; 25
pence; a quarter of £1] per appointment." [Pert, 1991]

Major C Frazer Mackenzie, c.1880-c.1960, lay
practitioner and writer on homeopathy throughout the 1930s and 40s.

Publ:
The Miracle of Homeopathy (c.1930)
Homeopathy, What it Means to You and Your
Health
Drugs the Main Cause of Cancer, Homeopathic
Publ. Co, London
Common Sense About Cancer (1945)
Is Medicine Fallible?
Letters and adverts: in Heal Thyself advert
1932, 1935 letter 1944 1945 1948
Homeopathy (nd)
The Homeopathic Conception of Drug Action
(nd)
Drugs the Main Cause of Cancer (nd)

Ephraim Connor (1893-1981), was a lay homeopath
based in Motherwell and later in the Scottish Highlands. A self-taught lay
homeopath in Motherwell and Glasgow:

‘Wrote a book about dogs, ended up as a publican
at the bottom end of the Caledonian Canal and a queer old stick.’
[Geoffrey Brown, 1991]

Francis Treuherz MA FSHom [a London based homeopath]
went to see Connor’s widow in 1985 and compiled an article about him
[Ephraim Connor [1893-1981], Treuherz, 1986 in The Homeopath].
Connor appears to have been a strange figure, who kept a big house near
Motherwell with a huge stock of old remedies from all the main
manufacturers. He also kept a large collection of guns. Little is known of
how his original contact with homeopathy came about, for example, or if he
was taught by any doctors in Glasgow.

Douglas Craig lived at 15 Shamrock Street in Dundee [in
1990] and was a homeopath and naturopath for many years, training and
practising for most of his working life mainly in Canada, returning to
Scotland in old age.

J. C. Pert
Homeopathic Pharmacist

Mr John Pert, c.1912-c.1995, Glasgow born, later
lived in Cheam, Surrey; MPS, MFAO, Chief Pharmacist at Nelson’s
[fashionable homeopathic pharmacy in Duke Street, London]; originally with
Glasgow Homeopathic Supplies, very knowledgeable about the history of UK
homeopathy and especially the lay scene in the 1930-60 period.

‘His life was lit by an enthusiasm
for homeopathy and many a time he spoke up for his beliefs....forthright
and of strong opinions as he was, we had many a fierce argument, but
never a quarrel...’ [Ross, 1962, p.141]

‘Seldom did an evening pass without
Tom looking in at the hospital to see that all was well...but medical
practice could not contain this many-sided genius and his brain was ever
brimming over with ideas on diverse subjects: sociology, the money
problem, theosophy, music, art, semantics, literature, philosophy...his
brilliant, witty, and sometimes Rabelaisian conversation will be sadly
missed by many friends...he was the complete individualist with a hearty
contempt for regimentation and the trammels of modern civilization.’
[Obituary, BHJ, p.141]

Was born in Glasgow in
1904 and educated at Glasgow Academy and University of St Andrews, in
commerce until 29 years when he switched to medicine, followed his
brother and brother-in-law into homeopathy. He joined their practice in
1940 and carried it on after their deaths until he retired in
1965." (Flysheet to His Book Homeopathy - Green Medicine),

Dr James Connor, c.1921- , Glasgow, Son of Ephraim,
LRCP LRCS Edin. LRFPS Glas 1943, 14 Belmont Cres, Glasgow (Med. Dir. 1948)
"Now living in Canada." (Brown and Pert). Not in 1988
Med. Reg. ‘He is now living in London, Ontario, Canada.’ [Dr Jim
Connor, 1995, son who is a medical historian at University of Toronto, in
an email to P Morrell]

The Scottish College of
Homeopathy, opened in Glasgow in September 1985 offering a
part-time foundation year followed by a 3 year full time course, followed
by a year of supervised clinical practice. 30 places are available each
year (Soc Hom Newsletter, 8, p.24 & Soc Hom Newsetter,15, p.24).

Thus, from all the above details, it is plain to see,
that Scotland in general, and Glasgow in particular, have held, and
continue to hold, a very special position in the history and development
of homeopathy in the British Isles.

*************

Abbreviations

BHA - British Homeopathic Association
BHJ - British Homeopathic Journal [after 1911]
BHS - British Homeopathic Society [up to 1943]
BJH - British Journal of Homeopathy [up to 1911]
BMJ - British Medical Journal
ChB or BS - Bachelor of Surgery
CM - Master of Surgery
CWD - C W Daniel and Co, publishers
DCH - Diploma in Child Health
Dip Obst RCOG - Diploma in Obstetrics of the Royal College of
Obstetricians & Gynaecologists
DPH - Diploma in Public Health
Edin - Edinburgh
Engl. - England
Faculty - Faculty of Homeopathy [after 1943]
FBHS - Fellow of the British Homeopathic Society
FFHom - Fellow of the Faculty of Homeopathy
FRCP - Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
FRFPS - Fellow of the Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow
FRSM - Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine
Glas - Glasgow
GHH - Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital
HSP - Health Science Press, publishers
JBHS - Journal of the British Homeopathic Society
KCVO - Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
LFPS - Licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
LHH - London Homeopathic Hospital [before Royal charter of 1950]
LMSSA - Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery Society of Apothecaries, London
LRCP - Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians
LRCS - Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons
LRFPS - Licentiate of the Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of
Glasgow
LSA - Licenciate of the Society of Apothecaries, London
MA - Master of Arts
MB - Bachelor of Medicine
MBHS - Member of the British Homeopathic Society
MBIR - Member of the British Institute of Radiology
MD - Doctor of Medicine
Med Dir - The Medical Directory for the UK [published annually since 1859]
Med Reg - The Medical Register for the UK [published annually since 1859]
MFHom - Member of the Faculty of Homeopathy
MFAO - Member of the Faculty of Accredited Opticians
MOH - Miracles of Healing by J Ellis Barker
MPS - Member of the Pharmaceutical Society of England
MRCP - Member of the Royal College of Physicians of England
MRCGP - Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners
MRPSG - Member of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow
MRCS - Member of the Royal College of Surgeons
nd - no date
RLHH - Royal London Homeopathic Hospital [after Royal charter of 1950]
Soc Hom - Society of Homeopaths, est. 1978